THIS TIME last year Fathi Akkari, then a lecturer in electronic engineering at Tallaght IT, watched from Dublin as revolution unfolded in the home country he left as a political dissident two decades ago.
As peaceful protests evolved into an armed uprising against Muammar Gadafy, Dr Akkari could scarcely believe the 42-year-old regime was unravelling, much less that 12 months later he would be overseeing the reform of Libya’s creaking third-level system as deputy education minister.
Today he sits in a spacious office in a dilapidated temporary ministry building. On the walls are framed tributes to university students and staff who died fighting Gadafy’s forces last year. On his desk sits the red, black and green flag of pre-Gadafy Libya now adopted by the interim government.
Dr Akkari, an affable academic who used to post commentaries criticising the old order on his blog, has a grand vision for Libya’s educational system, one that he says will draw heavily on his experience in Ireland. “You could say my way of thinking is Irish . . . we Libyans like to say that the Irish are simply Libyans who drive on the left side of the road,” he jokes.
“I know the quality of education in Ireland and there is much for Libya to learn from the Irish system.
“I am using all the documentation from the Irish system to try to map a national strategy for higher education in Libya for the next 20 years.” Dr Akkari talks of using Libya’s educational system to open the once isolated country to the world and ensure it has a flourishing economy.
“The focus will be on technology, languages, business management – anything that can help us create jobs,” he says.
“The problem is that under Gadafy it was all about producing civil servants. Everybody was employed by the government. What we have in mind now is to turn to jobs that can create business, bring investment, and contribute to our economy.”
As minister for higher education, Dr Akkari is responsible for more than 300,000 university students and 170,000 enrolled at higher institutes and technical colleges across Libya.
“We also have 76,000 people who have just passed our equivalent of the Leaving Cert, so the task we face is tremendous.”
Under Gadafy, Libya’s educational system was largely run by people selected more often for their loyalty to the regime than their qualifications.
“We are coming out of chaos here in Libya in terms of the educational system because there was no quality control,” Dr Akkari says. “University presidents and deans were appointed not on merit but because of their commitment to Gadafy.
“We will soon announce vacancies where qualified people can apply and be interviewed for these posts. We will choose the best in a transparent way with no background politics. Just the quality of the person will matter.”
Academics whose work involved the teaching of Gadafy’s ideology through his Green Book have been removed from their posts. “They were not properly qualified, they were there just to enforce the doctrine of Gadafy,” Dr Akkari says. “Those days are over.”
Dr Akkari, who has met Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Eamon Gilmore and Ireland’s Ambassador to Libya, Pat Hennessy, believes there is much potential in the relationship, including collaboration in education and research. “I told them we feel a stronger attachment to Ireland than most other countries because we feel those others might force their ways on us. The Irish have a clean page, and we trust that Ireland can be a good friend for the long term.”